661-257-4798

Studio Animal Services provides top-notch trained animals and coordination services for motion pictures, commercials, television, web, and print work! Our trainers are recognized and respected as the best in their field. For the past 35 years, owners, Karin McElhatton and Paul Calabria, have developed a large team of expert trainers, groomed for the most demanding production work and on-set etiquette. This team of pros has consistently developed award-winning animal actors. Their extensive expertise will help solve your production challenges, develop a straightforward budget and get the shot you want!

Services

Production Support

Studio Animal Services provides script breakdowns and budget estimates tailored specifically for your project. Our knowledgeable office staff, animal coordinators, and expert trainers will work closely with you from pre-production through training and filming to make your project a success.

Video Casting

We specialize in Video Casting to help you find the best animals for your projects. Our trainers source the best candidates for your project and create video clips of those animal actors that best match your production goals. They then organize them online for ease of presentation.

On Location

Need to take dogs to South Africa, squirrels to Budapest, or cats to Japan? Studio Animal Services partners with a professional travel broker to get our trained animals all over the world for your productions.

Project Consultation

For over 30 years, we have worked to make sure both the four-legged and two-legged talent is safe and well cared for. We are licensed by: the USDA, US Fish and Wildlife, CITES, CA Department of Fish and Game, Los Angeles City Animal Regulation, Los Angeles County and APHIS. As such we can offer you clear coaching on your projects to help develop your vision in alignment with humane practices and legal guidelines.

ABOUT STUDIO ANIMAL SERVICES

Studio Animal Services will provide expertly trained animals for any print, film, commercial or television shoot. Our trainers are recognized and respected as some of the best in the field, and include S.A.G. trainers who do on-camera handling and animal-related stunts.

A few of our past successes include the Taco Bell Chihuahua, Bruiser in the Legally Blond films, hundreds of Purina ads, and currently all of Fancy Feast’s gorgeous white cats. Industry classics include: St. Bernard pups for the movie Beethoven II, Chevy Chase’s retriever in Vacation, Clint Eastwood’s bulldogs and rats in Interview with a Vampire. Please see our credits page for more.

As a lead supplier of trained animals for advertising both locally and internationally, we are well versed in meeting the creative challenges of the commercial industry. Studio Animal Services worked with Jake Scott and RSA on the award-winning Super Bowl commercials including: the Yellow Labrador puppies for Budweiser in 2014 and 2015.

We also worked on the Cowboys Herding Cats commercial for EDS, as well as several collaborations with director Joe Pytka.

Only an hour north of Hollywood, our training facility is prepared to host you and your clients for professional, effective presentations, indoors or outdoors. At our 70-acre ranch, we develop our stars: dogs of every demeanor, multitalented cat teams, smart squirrels, dynamic ducks, and any other animal-large or small.

Founding members of our training crew have over 40 years of on-set experience. We keep abreast of new research regarding animal psychology. Our trainers rely on positive reinforcement as the main motivating factor in our training process. We give back to the animal community by adopting 75% of our talent from the Humane Society. We find homes for animals that are too shy for the Hollywood lifestyle, via our social media connections.